from washington, "the mclaughlin group". the american original. for over three decades. the sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. "the mclaughlin group" is brought to you in part by american petroleum institute. ♪ it's the 31st annual "the mclaughlin group" year end awards 2012 part 2. here's the master of ceremonies, john mclaughlin. >> for political stardom 2013 pat? >> senator scott of south carolina the first african-

american senator and republican senator from dixie since restriction. >> eleanor? >> senator warren from massachusetts. there's a new sheriff in town as dodd frank regulations continue to get written and are implemented. >> susan? >> i also agree with pat on tim scott. he's got great communication skills and i think he will articulate the views of the tea party who have lately been drowned out in congress. so he's going to be a good addition. >> i'm going to ask you for the envelope in a moment susan. clarence? >> i figured someone would guess tim scott before i'd get to him i'm going to say senator joe manchin from west virginia whose flip on the gun issue lifelong nra member, he's carving out that kind of middle ground politics that i think america is looking for right now. and i think we're going to hear

more from him. >> good. we'll all be waiting for that. what's his name? >> joe manchin. >> joe manchin. senator from west virginia. >> thanks for the tip. the envelope please? thank you susan. carman -- >> car mac the magnificent. all right we've got here destined for political stardom in 2013. this is definitely conmac. wednesday way la's -- venezuela's hugo chavez. >> stardom? >> you better get the vice president john. >> his populous legacy will live on and become legendary. chavez post will soon replace che question very is at emblems of latin america's social revolutionaries, put that in your column pat. okay, destined for political oblivion, pat? >> president bashar al-assad of syria. if he's not gone by the time this show's aired. >> eleanor? >> sarah palin. momma grizzlies and the tea

party, i don't think the new senator from south carolina can save the tea party in washington. >> susan? >> well, sadly mitt romney not only because he lost the election, because he went out with the same kind of comment that got him in trouble in the first place talking about giving people obama winning over voters because he gave them gifts kind of hurt the party on his way out. >> clarence? >> you beat me to the tea party but the old saying goes populous movements are like bees they sting and then they die. i think the sting of the tea party is over. >> that's a good axiom. is it yours? >> i'll take it. >> is it in the glossary? >> i'll go look it up. >> okay. i like it. destined for political oblivion in 2013. vice president join. -- joe biden. even if he runs in 2016 for the presidency. >> named the head of the whole gun thing. >> i'm telling you -- this position. >> we'll have to wait. >> his political style is seen

unfortunately for him as too aseckic for broad appeal. maybe you should talk to his wife about running for president. his wife is terrific. >> he may or may not run for president, john. but a lot of people love joe biden. he's an authentic voice and democrats in particular love him. maybe you got a problem -- >> we're talking about his wife as a candidate. >> jill? >> why not? >> because she's shown no political ambition. she teaches at a community college and she has a fine career. >> okay. best political theater of 2012. pat? >> i hate to say it but i think the democratic convention in charlotte. it was a real bell winger of a convention, very entertaining. >> eleanor? >> i second that and i loved clint eastwood interviewing the empty chair. that was classic. >> you really thought he had it all together. >> eleanor now? out of the chair. >> it was -- it was improvisation that you know, maybe only democrats could love. >> susan? >> i'd say the fiscal cliff fight because it's keeping the

media pack on capitol hill completely entertained with dualing press conferences and back and forth negotiations. every single day. it's definitely a lot of kabuki theater right now and very little substance? >> clarence? >> i think you're right about that but my big theater of the year was watching president obama and chris christie there at hurricane sandy. it was -- pivotal political moment this year. most memorable scene and for a country looking for people who can work together across party lines it was a new symbol. >> and ruinous for whom? >> i don't think it's ruinous for christie at all. >> no, no. not christie. ruin the romney. >> oh for sure. >> romney was nowhere to be seen and he had been -- he had the big mo going in. best political theater u. n. ambassador susan rice spinning

the benghazi attack. she ended the soap opera with letter withdrawing from her petition for the united states. >> that's the worst? worst is my friend clint eastwood. in the empty chair. >> now wait a minute. >> brought it out -- >> a lot of people liked that. >> it was okay -- i mean it was interesting. >> not good -- >> it blotted out all the film of the great things mitt had done. >> eleanor? >> that's right. okay worst political theater i'm more serious. the senate republicans voting down the u. n. treaty on people with disabilities after senator bob dole made an appearance pleading for passage in his wheelchair. and they just ignore -- they set a low and they ignored him. >> susan? >> i'm going to say again the fiscal cliff because fun the watch but frightening for taxpayers and damaging -- >> ence. if you can cover this up. >> i can guarantee --

>> i agree with -- i agree with you. the fiscal cliff is the worst -- i mean they know what they got to do. they just don't want to do it because it's unpleasant. they know raising taxes and cutting spending but i -- >> i'm going to give you the worst political theater, new york governor andrew cuomo and new york mayor michael bloomberg blaming hurricane sandy on global warming. come on guys! >> he's right. >> you build houses on the shoreline and you're going get flooded whether it's a combination of high tides, storm surge and wind even by a category 1. the weakest category. like sandy. you going to get flooded. you got it pat? >> seems to okay. most underreported story of 2012. pat? >> now the big media went into the tank for barack obama. >> eleanor? >> when you have hundred year storms every couple of years. you've got a problem. the most seriously underreported story is the threat of climate change. >> oh dear.

susan? >> federal government rate of the gibson guitar factory. they confiscated the merchandise because a small business took some wood -- that was the incorrect level of thickness. >> interesting. what a loss. >> the worst political theater? how the right turned benghazi tragedy into theater of the absurd. >> are you reading that now? >> i wanted to get it right and concise. >> listen to me now and watch this. understood reported story of 2012 the bright side of mexico. the bright side of mexico. but particularly its economy. you call mexico went down to a failed state on the program. now in the midst of a manufacturing rebound be exports up to 14%. up from 11%. creating jobs, boosting gdp and drawing mexican immigrants from the united states back home. okay. the most overreported story of 2012. pat? >> the election of 2012 primary and general election and the fiscal cliff. >> eleanor? >> political gaffes. i like to fire people. you didn't build that, corporations are people too my

friend. and -- the -- what is it? the private sector is doing just fine. >> susan? >> the republican primary. too many debates, too much coverage. just oversaturation. >> clarence? >> overcoverage -- overreported story of the of sessionist movement after the election. >> the most overreported story of 2012. facebook. anything to do with facebook. from zuckerberg's will to the ipo to the ipo's dismal results to facebook's privacy policies you name it. facebook is so overreported. okay biggest government waste pat? >> obama gives stimulus billions of dollars to fat cat friends with green energy companies like solyndra. >> eleanor? >> war in afghanistan. >> overreported. >> no, no, biggest government waste. >> biggest government waste. my material. clarence? susan? >> government junkets, the government service administration spent $800,000 for a conference in las vegas.

>> clarence? >> tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. >> . the biggest government waste is -- as we just heard is the war in afghanistan. the cause was to transform afghan society into a replication of the west. a known cause but unattainable. afghanistan is a failure. count let more shattered lives and an immense waste of money and national prestige. okay best government dollar spent, pat? >> the national weather service which like it or not gave us about a week's head start and head start warning that sandy was coming and probably saved thousands of lives when you consider the hurricane in galveston in 1906 killed 6,000 people. >> eleanor? >> obama care. >> susan? >> nasa. mars rover incredible technology. water purification. solar energy and on and on. >> interested in that huh? the moon. clarence? >> the so-called detroit

autobail aught. it saved jobs whatever to call it. >> the best government dollar spent the ongoing investment in the iron dome antimissile system by the u.s. and israel. it's setting a standard for reliability that was demonstrated in the recent gaza fighting, also known as the rocket swatter. and as a result of iron dome's interception success missile defense systems will get a boost in budgets worldwide. pat bogus tactic? >> michigan legislature passes incredibly a right to work law in the home of the united autoworkers astonishing. >> for the government too. >> astonishing for the autoworkers. >> eleanor? >> president obama's implementation of the dream act through an executive order. >> susan? >> i thought it was obama's class warfare during the election. it helped him win. >> clarence? and the obama campaign's ground game getting the campaign offices open out there. >> boldest political tactic to

bet. to bet citizens setting themselves on fire by the scores, self-immoe lating to attract wavering world attention to what they see is china's repressive world. okay worst political scandal. pat? >> worst political scandal? i would say general petraeus and his girlfriends. >> really? >> well, i brought down -- look they almost brought down the entire central command down there in florida over with due respect two young ladies and it was a horrendous scandal and destroyed the career of one of the most famous american generals of the 21st century. >> conduct unbecoming a gentleman. >> what he said. go ahead eleanor. >> i have to agree but i must say i'm waiting for the book i'm sure he will write a book. i hadpy they jus too but my backup dsk who -- would have been the president of france if he hadn't changed a hotel chamber maid around the room in new york. that was just settled in a

civil suit. he paid up big. >> i would have to say benghazi. failure of the obama administration to protect our diplomats and a ridiculous attempt to cover it up. >> dynamite. >> the cover-up has yet to be proved but petraeus has to win. i mean -- here's a career that was just going so spectacularly well. i mean just overnight another one of these sex scandals that's questionable just how bad it was for anybody outside of their families. and immediate people. >> worst political scandal of 2012 is operation fast and furious, the datf undercover operation which flooded mexico with some 2,000 illegal weapons and 1,400 still unaccounted for. the soon to be in the hands of the cartels and operation makes the u.s. government one of the largest suppliers of assault rifles to the drug cartels. we'll be right back with this and more group awards. ♪

♪[ music ] okay, best idea of 2012. pat buchanan. >> i was going to go with sucession, but the iron dome of israel. >> i'm going to go with the democrats characterization of the republicans dinosaur ideas of women as the war on women. >> i'm going to go with herman cain's 999 idea. capturing everyone's attention with this 999 plan that had a lot of appeal from people. i think if he didn't suffer from a big scandal, that would

have had some traction. >> best idea is common sense gun reform. the reform that most n ra members adeal with. better background checks, and changing the rubric, from gun control to gun safety. >> do have you a gun? >> i do. it's a .38. >> the best idea was hillary clinton's decision to turn down the request that she go on weekend talk shows following the benghazi attack. she left that honor to susan rice, who proceeded to strangulate her career. okay, worst idea of 2012. >> worst idea is jill kelley's decision to get her fbi friend to look into those nasty emails she was getting from some woman up here in d.c., named paula broadwell. finished off, caused a whole scandal. >> romney's call for self- deportation of illegal people

in the country. >> newt gingrich's proposal to establish a moon colony. >> was he serious about that? >> that's very good former cong reynolds, now is running for jesse jackson's new seat. >> apple maps into the iphone 5 in order to compete with the sales of google. while the sales of iphones were strong. the apple maps were a bomb. people got lost. sorry to see you go, pat? >> neil armstrong. american astronaut, first man on the moon, american hero. >> the print edition of news week. >> susan. >> representative allen west, who lost his bid. he was a bold conservative not afraid to buck the leadership. >> beat me to allen west.

he was always such fun to cover. sorry to see you go. >> tony blankly, reagan white house veteran. editorial page editor of the washington times. author, columnist. >> 15 minutes of fame. >> paula broadwell. >> i will supplement that with jill kelley, the florida woman who got called up into the love quadrangle, however big it got. >> what are we all feeding at the same trough? >> i saw sandra fluke. how long can you go on about free birth control when the economy is crashing. >> who is she? >> she's the georgetown law student who talked about the need for the government to

provide her with free birth control. >> rush limbaugh called her a name. [ overlapping speakers ] >> 15 minutes of name. the guard particles, discovery completes the standard model of physics, and explains the mechanism from which mass comes into existence. does that prove, or disprove god's existence? either way, it's 15 minutes are up. best minute of the year. >> hamas, celebrates after 1500 district hits in 8 days, and the world believes it was a great victory. >> vice president biden, bin laden is dead, and general motors is alive. >> president obama's entire reelection campaign. to me, it was one big eally, al >> pretty much. >> mitt romney's statement that he cares about 100% of the

people. >> best spin of the year. that al-qaeda is on the run. unless you mean charging at our diplomatic missions with our assault rifles blazing, and rpg's firing. you with me pat? >> again, i think i heard that last show. >> from you? >> best comeback. >> you really are hard up, aren't you? >> okay, the most [ inaudible ] person of the year. >> ron paul. >> we're back to ron paul? >> rand paul has a very promising future. >> bob costas on guns. he spoke out after the kansas city chiefs football player killed his girlfriend, used a gun. kicked off the discussion. long overdue. >> mitt romney, his election campaign was honest, and the public didn't like it, so they picked the other candidate.

>> simple as that. >> obama care, about changing the tax code. people didn't like to hear that. >> mitt romney almost won. if he had shown up in new jersey, he probably would have had a better shot. >> mitt romney who he said those who don't care about students who are in a country illegally have no heart, it almost killed his campaign. >> most dishonest, john boehner, republican speaker of the house. saying quote unquote, let's be honest, we're broke. we'll be right back with new years resolutions. ♪ [ music ]

new years resolutions, pat.

>> get at list one book on nixon done this year. >> another one? >> one. >> can get cracking on my memoir, and also continue to jog so i can continue to stay healthy and continue to do combat. >> ensure that everything i put on twitter is completely accurate. >> are you going to do a memoir? >> no. >> really? >> write a book that responds to pat buchanan's last book. >> my new year's resolution is to not have such a heavy foot when i accelerate vehicles. we try to give it to you straight. celebrate the new year. bye bye. ♪ [ music ]